This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/383,859 which was filed on Sep. 17, 2010. The subject matter of that application is incorporated hereinto by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure pertains to merchandise dispensing devices for retail venues where theft of merchandise which is displayed on open shelves is a concern. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a dispensing device which allows single products to be accessed but prevents multiple products from being removed from the dispensing device at the same time.
Recently, retail stores which traditionally display products on open shelves have experienced product theft. Items which are in high demand by thieves include cough and cold medications, razor blades, camera, film, batteries, DVDs, smoking and smoking cessation articles, fragrances, infant formula and the like. Shelf sweeping is a particular problem for small items. Such “sweeping” occurs when one or more people remove all or most of the items displayed on a shelf into a bag or the like and exit the store. Shelf sweeping relies on the ability to remove multiple items from the shelf at one time. In order to deter such sweeping, a merchant or retailer could only display a single item on the shelf. However, then the merchant must constantly restock the shelf, which would be very difficult to do. Therefore, merchants keep substantial inventory on a shelf, making such inventory susceptible of theft.
Retailers are constantly challenged to balance the needs of legitimate consumer's access to high theft items with measures to minimize the incidence of theft. Because theft has become so rampant in connection with certain product categories such as razors and infant formula, many retail stores are taking such products off the shelf and placing them behind a counter or under lock and key. If this is done, customers must request the products in order to make a purchase. However, such measures are disadvantageous as they add additional labor costs in order to provide individual service to customers who would not normally require it. Also, such a merchandising technique makes it difficult for customers to compare products side by side. Moreover, it may be difficult to store multiple such products behind a counter, as counter space is limited and may be needed for other items, such as prescription medications, expensive fragrances or the like.
Product dispensing devices which deter theft, such as vending machines, are well known. They have been used for storing products of all sorts and for vending such products to consumers in exchange for money, generally coins and/or currency without vendor attention. However, the known vending machines are expensive to manufacture and operate and are not readily adapted for use in vending numerous types of products in a retail environment such as a drug store or a grocery store.
Also known is a theft deterring merchandise dispenser which utilizes a helical coil to hold and dispense product between coil windings. Merchandise packages are slidingly mounted on a rod. The rotation of a knob rotates the helical coil and causes the merchandise packages to slide along the rod. However, this known design requires an individual housing for each rod and helical coil combination with the housing being adapted for mounting on a peg board display.
Further known is a merchandise dispensing apparatus providing theft deterrence that includes a box structure defined by a plurality of walls and a door allowing access to an interior space defined within the box structure. A plurality of pushers and dividers are employed to separate the merchandise held in the box structure into a group of columns. A rotatable knob is employed to select a piece of merchandise, separate it from the column and move it towards the door so that it can be accessed by a consumer. This design requires dividers to separate the columns of products from each other.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop an improved loss prevention merchandiser which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while meeting at least some of the above stated needs and providing better and more advantageous overall results.